Friday, March 11th 2011: Madrid Spain
Friday, March 11, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Day 2 - Welcome to Madrid!
Thursday, March 10th 2011
Upon landing at the airport we took a two mile walk up and down stairs, around buildings and through every terminal to find our bags. It would be quite a trip for someone in a wheelchair, but this was my first indication that we no longer had the conveniences of America. Felix’s rep, Eduardo picked us up from the Airport and we had a nice ride to Hotel Agumar – which he hand picked for our needs. It was about noon in Madrid and we decided to take a one hour nap to recover from the flight and jet lag. Four hours later we woke up and dragged our tired bodies out of bed. We agreed to go outdoors in attempt to allow the fresh air to bring some energy. We walked up and down a few street and received a recommendation for local restaurant. The only problem was the every restaurant did not open until 8:00pm for dinner!! We were sooo ready for bed and soooo tired and hungry – we hadn’t eaten all day!! We arrived at the restaurant at 7:50 and were the first to be seated in the dinning room. About 30 minutes later another American couple arrived and we watched them fall asleep at their table while waiting for their food :)
That night we took Unisom in hopes to induce a long coma of rest. It definitely worked.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Leaving Scottsdale
Day 1
March 9th 2011: Phoenix, AZ
March 9th 2011: Phoenix, AZ
All week long we’ve made lists on top of lists on top of lists to make sure that by today there was no possibility of forgetting any detail no matter the size or importance. It’s been a difficult week to sleep as we usually lie awake at night talking about what should be done to prepare and what to pack. From home repairs to doggie sitters and airport shuttles to light timers we are masters of the “to dos”.
Thus last night we stayed up past 2am to complete each list and wrap up on any lingering ends at work via virtual login. This morning the alarms went off at 6am echoing with excitement and mocking our exhaustion. Once showered and dressed in my carefully selected travel items I was out the door to drop the doggies at the sitter’s house. As hard as it was to say goodbye for a month, I was glad to see their excitement when they knew where we were. I still have a picture of their little faces, heads cocked to the side, ears perked and the sound of the sad little whimpers as I creeped out the back door… but I am so comforted to know they are in such great hands!
So… I battled the morning commute on my way back home but when I got there Felix had the bags by the door and was ready to go! Our amazing friend, Kristen, arrived to take us to the airport and we were checked in and at our gate early enough to get a little more work in before the flight.
Phoenix to Atlanta was a quick three hour flight where I enjoyed conversations with Susan, my flight companion, about life and travels and her family. Felix slept the whole time. Our layover was non existent as we ran from one terminal to the next in time to grab a sandwich and find our seats on the next flight. The movie selection was The King’s Speech, which turned out to be a surprisingly great film. We battled the seats for sleep but were out maneuvered and ultimately exhausted.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Just the beginning
Great news! So... Felix has accepted an amazing job in Tempe, Arizona. He will be the European Sales manager for a night vision/ thermal weapon company who provides equipment to emergency response teams, marine, aviation and military groups. Last night Felix flew from Houston to German to start his new adventure. I want to start keeping you up to date on our new life so this is the beginning!
Stormy air in Germany...
Letter from Felix:
Travel Log May 3, 2010
May 3, 2010
Leipzig, Germany
Begin: 4:57: pm
I will soon have completed my first day of international travel. Right now, I am sitting in my hotel room, 402, typing while looking out the fully open European still window. It’s a rather gloomy day with a few showers here and there with lots of low hanging dark grey clouds but I like it.
I am traveling and getting paid to do it. I am so grateful my honey, Kelcey, allowed for me to take this job. I really think it is going to be one of the better decisions of our lives. I also think I see a nuclear power plant hiding amongst the nice German countryside. Oh, our taxi driver made sure to point out the Porsche Cheyenne factory as we pasted it on our way to our hotel.
I have flown from Phoenix to Houston and Houston to Frankfurt, Germany and concluding with a short flight to Leipzig, Germany. Let’s just say the hotel is not anywhere close to where our convention in going to be but we were able to see a lot of the city and it has some really beautiful parks and restored buildings. The taxi alone cost us 38 Euros but we weren’t going to fuss with the train.
We, Allen and I, are staying in the Atlanta Hotel, which is nice but I have to smile at the use of the word “Atlanta” since I am from “Georgia.” I have packed way too much so I have already started writing list of everything I am using on this trip so I don’t repeat mistakes. My bag is 66lbs. That’s ridiculous…even for me. My goal next time in one carry-on and one packet back under 40lbs.
I have really missed being able to write to Kelcey. I think this way will be a really good way to keep people up to date on my dealings and bring my Love with me. I am taking pictures with my blackberry so I can then e-mail them to Kelcey.
I have used a little of my German but I really need to pick it up so let me get back to my flight. I was really fortunate to get place in a 4 person middle row with two empty seats. That meant that I had an empty seat on both sides of me. It makes a big deal with you’re traveling 9 hours. I spent my time between sleeping, reading “When Sinners Say I do” which I am finding a very engaging and encouraging read, and eating.
I was traveling on Continental and then Lufthansa. The people were nice, the food was really good, but our plane was 40 minutes late. We thought we might miss our connection but poor weather was pushing everyone back.
The pushed pack departure was a good thing considering Allen and I felt like we had to walk across Germany to get to this gate. Trust me; Gate C11 at Frankfurt to Gate A40 is quite the little jaunt. But we made. Allen already had his ticket with a seat assigned so he just got on when called. I was on stand-bye for technical reasons, which ended up meaning we had a full plane. That’s what they said, “Plane is full,” which I was not to happy about because my CEO was on the plane and I was not.
After they said the plane had everyone on board, they then decided it was finally time to call out my name. They told me to pass on through, which I did with a elated heart. I was literally the last person on that completely full plane. Thank God for very for a little extra coverage.
Writing a page takes me about a half an hour. I am just trying to get an idea of how long it takes me to do things so I plan better. Out the window I can see old people riding their bikes together and it makes you really think about what matters in life.
I’ll end with this as I’m headed to bed. Allen and I toured Leipzig, ate too much schnitzel and I got a work out/ Jacuzzi time / sauna time. Life is great but it would be better with Kelcey here!
End: 10:56 pm
Stormy air in Germany...
Letter from Felix:
Travel Log May 3, 2010
May 3, 2010
Leipzig, Germany
Begin: 4:57: pm
I will soon have completed my first day of international travel. Right now, I am sitting in my hotel room, 402, typing while looking out the fully open European still window. It’s a rather gloomy day with a few showers here and there with lots of low hanging dark grey clouds but I like it.
I am traveling and getting paid to do it. I am so grateful my honey, Kelcey, allowed for me to take this job. I really think it is going to be one of the better decisions of our lives. I also think I see a nuclear power plant hiding amongst the nice German countryside. Oh, our taxi driver made sure to point out the Porsche Cheyenne factory as we pasted it on our way to our hotel.
I have flown from Phoenix to Houston and Houston to Frankfurt, Germany and concluding with a short flight to Leipzig, Germany. Let’s just say the hotel is not anywhere close to where our convention in going to be but we were able to see a lot of the city and it has some really beautiful parks and restored buildings. The taxi alone cost us 38 Euros but we weren’t going to fuss with the train.
We, Allen and I, are staying in the Atlanta Hotel, which is nice but I have to smile at the use of the word “Atlanta” since I am from “Georgia.” I have packed way too much so I have already started writing list of everything I am using on this trip so I don’t repeat mistakes. My bag is 66lbs. That’s ridiculous…even for me. My goal next time in one carry-on and one packet back under 40lbs.
I have really missed being able to write to Kelcey. I think this way will be a really good way to keep people up to date on my dealings and bring my Love with me. I am taking pictures with my blackberry so I can then e-mail them to Kelcey.
I have used a little of my German but I really need to pick it up so let me get back to my flight. I was really fortunate to get place in a 4 person middle row with two empty seats. That meant that I had an empty seat on both sides of me. It makes a big deal with you’re traveling 9 hours. I spent my time between sleeping, reading “When Sinners Say I do” which I am finding a very engaging and encouraging read, and eating.
I was traveling on Continental and then Lufthansa. The people were nice, the food was really good, but our plane was 40 minutes late. We thought we might miss our connection but poor weather was pushing everyone back.
The pushed pack departure was a good thing considering Allen and I felt like we had to walk across Germany to get to this gate. Trust me; Gate C11 at Frankfurt to Gate A40 is quite the little jaunt. But we made. Allen already had his ticket with a seat assigned so he just got on when called. I was on stand-bye for technical reasons, which ended up meaning we had a full plane. That’s what they said, “Plane is full,” which I was not to happy about because my CEO was on the plane and I was not.
After they said the plane had everyone on board, they then decided it was finally time to call out my name. They told me to pass on through, which I did with a elated heart. I was literally the last person on that completely full plane. Thank God for very for a little extra coverage.
Writing a page takes me about a half an hour. I am just trying to get an idea of how long it takes me to do things so I plan better. Out the window I can see old people riding their bikes together and it makes you really think about what matters in life.
I’ll end with this as I’m headed to bed. Allen and I toured Leipzig, ate too much schnitzel and I got a work out/ Jacuzzi time / sauna time. Life is great but it would be better with Kelcey here!
End: 10:56 pm
What used to be and what's to come...
For the past twenty years I have been a Texan. I moved to Houston, TX when I was six. I remember my first day of Sunday School with Mrs. Perez as our teacher. I rememnber meeting Jessica and her blue dress. I remember Kelly Snow, Michelle Crumby, the Lehmans, Perez's, Rizvi's, Smiths and many many more. Through the years this place became home and these people became like family.
My senior year of highschool everyone in my grade split and went a different direction. I left my friends and went to Denton, TX to attend Texas Woman's University. Here I found a new family and we quickly became as close as sisters. To this day I miss each of their smiling faces and I love the memories we shared every single day.
In two shorts years I completed my degree and left my friends once again. As they continued to grow together for three more years... I began to pursue life and soon marriage. In my new married life my grew very close with friends in our church. Our fond memories were full of trips to the lake house, nights at the wine bar, game nights, scavenger hunts and lots of laughs! :)
Little did I know that two years later I would be in another unfamiliar place. Single again. Life is very different for a sinlge person and a married person. Many of my friends were no longer a part of my world and I started over once again.
About four months ago I confessed this to my small group. That I'm tired of starting over. I'm tired of being vunerable with people and loving them just to loose them when life transitions come along. There's nothing you can do about it - we need community. When we are married we need community with other married people. When we are single we need the support and accountability of other singles. When I am in Dallas I need other christian women here who can pour into me and I can build into them.
I told my group that I had not given them a fair chance. For six months I went to group every day without ever putting any heart into it. Without ever caring. I told them I wanted to try - to connect.
Today am I very glad that I did. I am leaving again. I am leaving and moving to Arizona. Many of my current friendships will not stand the test of time. I have no idea if and when I will be back home to Texas. Some of my friends are more like sisters and I will always have them in my life no matter what changes. For the friends I've made in the past years - I love you... I'm glad I let my walls down because I learned about people and I know why God had me in that group.
Now my life is taking an exciting new turn to Phoenix, Arizona. My new adventure with my best friend and greatest love, my Fiance, Felix. I thank God for Felix's love and support - I can't wait to tell you more about our new life together as we move in two months. It's bittersweet ... leaving my home. I am already starting to say my goodbyes and am slowly packing away each item in my home.
It's a scary thing to do, but there is no one else on this earth I'd rather be with than Felix.
My senior year of highschool everyone in my grade split and went a different direction. I left my friends and went to Denton, TX to attend Texas Woman's University. Here I found a new family and we quickly became as close as sisters. To this day I miss each of their smiling faces and I love the memories we shared every single day.
In two shorts years I completed my degree and left my friends once again. As they continued to grow together for three more years... I began to pursue life and soon marriage. In my new married life my grew very close with friends in our church. Our fond memories were full of trips to the lake house, nights at the wine bar, game nights, scavenger hunts and lots of laughs! :)
Little did I know that two years later I would be in another unfamiliar place. Single again. Life is very different for a sinlge person and a married person. Many of my friends were no longer a part of my world and I started over once again.
About four months ago I confessed this to my small group. That I'm tired of starting over. I'm tired of being vunerable with people and loving them just to loose them when life transitions come along. There's nothing you can do about it - we need community. When we are married we need community with other married people. When we are single we need the support and accountability of other singles. When I am in Dallas I need other christian women here who can pour into me and I can build into them.
I told my group that I had not given them a fair chance. For six months I went to group every day without ever putting any heart into it. Without ever caring. I told them I wanted to try - to connect.
Today am I very glad that I did. I am leaving again. I am leaving and moving to Arizona. Many of my current friendships will not stand the test of time. I have no idea if and when I will be back home to Texas. Some of my friends are more like sisters and I will always have them in my life no matter what changes. For the friends I've made in the past years - I love you... I'm glad I let my walls down because I learned about people and I know why God had me in that group.
Now my life is taking an exciting new turn to Phoenix, Arizona. My new adventure with my best friend and greatest love, my Fiance, Felix. I thank God for Felix's love and support - I can't wait to tell you more about our new life together as we move in two months. It's bittersweet ... leaving my home. I am already starting to say my goodbyes and am slowly packing away each item in my home.
It's a scary thing to do, but there is no one else on this earth I'd rather be with than Felix.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Logging in...
Hello everyone...
It's been so long I couldn't remember my log in ... or if I even had one... since summer my life has been wrapped up in event planning, work, Felix and family. All good things, but I find myself wishing for more time to think and read, to spend time with God and time with friends... I wasn't able to continue running this fall but have made a commitment to start again in January (you'll have to hold me to that!).
September brought the very exciting announcement of Justin and Cindy's pregnancy!! Which meant they needed more space and quickly!! They soon moved out of their 600sqft downtown apartment and out the friendly suburbs of Austin :) Felix's parents visited Dallas in September and we had a wonderful time getting to know them! We showed them around town, took them to our church, and even down to the new Cowboys stadium! This whole time, Felix was still stuck in Iraq longing to be home... so I had to take on the boyfriend's parents single handedly! A scary task.. but they didn't bite... so it was okay.
October brought Felix home to me safe and sound <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVIMO6iPLitSeQoe3-Q0LYu-gdP3ZObAwa674YizDRkjoi8smMFXfsbU-pc-RwF1vdCnLjEphjl_CGqfiZbv7RJkljZutWbG5P3Fz-BP9tZGKb7YmWRHiM98F3CG4AemKsZYEEoYIOJTY/s1600-h/11+05+09_6491.JPG">
November was the culmination of my event planning as I spent countless hours going through the details of the most important day of my company's year. It went off beautifully and soon the stress was lifted and sleep became a nightly comfort once again :) Planning this event was a huge challenge, but extremely fun. Am I ready to do it again? No... not yet... but it seems like there is not much of an option!
November also meant Thanksgiving and family! Justin and Cindy (and the bump) traveled to Dallas and they were able to meet Felix for the first time. After late nights, long talks, and LOTS of food it seems the family is almost as in love with him as I am. :) For Dad's birthday this year I happened to be given two tickets to the Cowboys game on the 50 yard like, 20th row from some of our brokers! Dad has been a Cowboys fan since he was 6 years old and started collecting their players cards. He had NEVER attended a game of theirs. This was quite an experience for our first game!! New stadium, fantastic seats, first classes passes!! It was amazing!!
December brought Felix to Texas and a transfer to Ft. Hood where many of you have become familiar with over the recent shooting. The praise, is that Felix was not there at the time of the shooting and the base is much safer now! Thank you, Lord! Last weekend we celebrated Christmas with my family and thanked God that Cindy is finally finished with this semester of Nursing School and is no longing throwing up every day!! Yeah!!
Tomorrow Felix and I will fly out to Atlanta to spend Christmas with his family- he hasn't seen them since July! We're planning on going to the movies, driving around to see the lights, going to their candle light service at church and really enjoying getting to know everyone :)
My honey is driving up to Dallas right now and I can't wait to get off work so I can go home and pack!!! I have been horribly defeated by all the christmas treats in the kitchen here and should stop eating for the rest of the year!! ha..
Anyway... It's almost 2010 and I can't believe how quickly this year flew by!! I miss you all and hope to see you very soon.
Merry Christmas!
Kelcey
It's been so long I couldn't remember my log in ... or if I even had one... since summer my life has been wrapped up in event planning, work, Felix and family. All good things, but I find myself wishing for more time to think and read, to spend time with God and time with friends... I wasn't able to continue running this fall but have made a commitment to start again in January (you'll have to hold me to that!).
September brought the very exciting announcement of Justin and Cindy's pregnancy!! Which meant they needed more space and quickly!! They soon moved out of their 600sqft downtown apartment and out the friendly suburbs of Austin :) Felix's parents visited Dallas in September and we had a wonderful time getting to know them! We showed them around town, took them to our church, and even down to the new Cowboys stadium! This whole time, Felix was still stuck in Iraq longing to be home... so I had to take on the boyfriend's parents single handedly! A scary task.. but they didn't bite... so it was okay.
October brought Felix home to me safe and sound <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVIMO6iPLitSeQoe3-Q0LYu-gdP3ZObAwa674YizDRkjoi8smMFXfsbU-pc-RwF1vdCnLjEphjl_CGqfiZbv7RJkljZutWbG5P3Fz-BP9tZGKb7YmWRHiM98F3CG4AemKsZYEEoYIOJTY/s1600-h/11+05+09_6491.JPG">
November was the culmination of my event planning as I spent countless hours going through the details of the most important day of my company's year. It went off beautifully and soon the stress was lifted and sleep became a nightly comfort once again :) Planning this event was a huge challenge, but extremely fun. Am I ready to do it again? No... not yet... but it seems like there is not much of an option!
November also meant Thanksgiving and family! Justin and Cindy (and the bump) traveled to Dallas and they were able to meet Felix for the first time. After late nights, long talks, and LOTS of food it seems the family is almost as in love with him as I am. :) For Dad's birthday this year I happened to be given two tickets to the Cowboys game on the 50 yard like, 20th row from some of our brokers! Dad has been a Cowboys fan since he was 6 years old and started collecting their players cards. He had NEVER attended a game of theirs. This was quite an experience for our first game!! New stadium, fantastic seats, first classes passes!! It was amazing!!
December brought Felix to Texas and a transfer to Ft. Hood where many of you have become familiar with over the recent shooting. The praise, is that Felix was not there at the time of the shooting and the base is much safer now! Thank you, Lord! Last weekend we celebrated Christmas with my family and thanked God that Cindy is finally finished with this semester of Nursing School and is no longing throwing up every day!! Yeah!!
Tomorrow Felix and I will fly out to Atlanta to spend Christmas with his family- he hasn't seen them since July! We're planning on going to the movies, driving around to see the lights, going to their candle light service at church and really enjoying getting to know everyone :)
My honey is driving up to Dallas right now and I can't wait to get off work so I can go home and pack!!! I have been horribly defeated by all the christmas treats in the kitchen here and should stop eating for the rest of the year!! ha..
Anyway... It's almost 2010 and I can't believe how quickly this year flew by!! I miss you all and hope to see you very soon.
Merry Christmas!
Kelcey
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Yeah for Weekends and Girly Stuff... !!
Last weekend Kelly got to come visit from Houston!! It's been WAYYY too long since I've seen her and we had a blast!! Friday night we ate at a fabulous restaurant in Dallas called Victor Tangos - I give it a very high recommendation. The atmosphere was great, the food was to die for and the drinks were fantastic! The next morning I skipped my run ... it's okay to take a break every once in a while :) ... and we got pedicures at the hip little nail salon in Plano instead!
This was much better than running in the rain...
As the day continued we headed out to the lake with my fam and enjoyed a few very tiresome rounds of tubing.
Photo's by Gina (Wesley's girlfriend):
Oh no!! Swim faster!
This does happen from time to time...
Smile Kelly...
Me and Wes:
So.. lots of fun and lots of sun!!! Then we ran home to shower and change and quickly headed down to Greenville for an Alpha Rev concert at the Grenada Theater. What we didn't know was that the "show" started at 7:30, but our guys did go on until 11:30!!! We're way too old for that!!! That's past my bed time!! We decided to kill time on a patio with our friends, Chips and Salsa, and Margarita :) I have many more pictures, but not with me at the time... so here is Vanessa, me, and Kelly all dressed up for our night out :)
In short... that was our weekend... combined with movies, popcorn, sour punch straws (this was our thing in junior high and high school! ) ... and COFFEE. I hope ya'll had a fabulous weekend as well!!!
Love you!!!
-K
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